June 2013
Released: 2011, Season of Mist
Rating: 3.5/5
Reviewer: Metal-Rules.com UK Team

German Black Metallers Endstille are a band whose sound has been cultivated for well over a decade now. Having released an extensive back catalogue of musical endeavours, Infektion 1813 is the latest offering by a band whose lyrical themes focuses on Word War II weaponry.

Without pulling any punches, ‘Anomie’ bursts out full of infernal drumming, banshee measured shrieks and metallic riffs colliding at full force. The band showcases a relentless sound within its dark lit narrative. In a similar fashion, ‘Trenchgoat’ bears many of these aforementioned qualities, the raspy vocals that remain as piercingly clear as the guitar work itself, conjuring a tangible essence that makes this an track an instant hit.

The record plays out on the whole with an ice cold rawness that has often been the trade mark of Black Metal. Radiating with gritty guitars, adrenaline fuelled pit movers as well as a bleak undercurrent that slithers along throughout. ‘Bloody H (The Hurt Gene)’ pulls everything together with some well executed clean vocals offering up a layer of density towards an already impressive riff monster of a track. Vocally, everything fit’s the bill with shrieks, spoken words, backing vocals offering up an interesting variation to fans.

The drumming is where the record shines in many respects. Catchy at times and barbaric at others, which corrodes with the guitars in its savage onslaught of blood soaked noise. Stand out, ‘Wrecked’ should satisfying demands of head bangers at live shows, the drums build with axe grinding guitars piercing their way into your ear drums offering up something quite special, whilst the mournful singing scattered throughout this colossal sounding powerhouse.

Closing off with the 10 minute long ‘Endstille (Volkerschlachter)’ the German spoken lyrics provide an authentic European Black Metal tonality. The guitars and drums remain consistent throughout carrying the weight of the undecipherable narrative forward. Even though there is virtually no change in direction , everything seems to fit in place drawing closure to a well rounded wholeness.

Final word, one thing that stood out for me about these guys is how well produced the album is and how solid the instrumentation remains throughout. There are light brushes of melody darted about in some of the tracks but for some reason the overall heaviness doesn’t become tiresome upon the ears. The instrumentation works and nothing feels sloppy or overly exhausted. The result: an entirely organic piece of music that keeps its momentum from start to finish.